Blog | Personal Best Karate

Excerpt from the book “Be Your Personal Best: Confidence” written by Master Christopher Rappold You is it! I know that’s bad grammar, but it is true. The mix of favorites and not so favorites, the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses -- all add up to form who you are today. The exciting part about being human is that most things can be changed or improved. Allow me to move to an analogy to illustrate the point I want to make. Let’s imagine you are carrying a piece of furniture down a narrow hallway. As you navigate the turn into a room you misjudge and catch your finger in between the furniture and the wall…Ouch. Has it ever happened to ....

By Master Christopher Rappold As adults, we are responsible for our lifestyle choices and in many cases, our children’s lifestyles. Whether or not our children get enough exercise and eat healthy foods has a lot to do with the example we set for them and the choices we provide them with. According to USA Today, the percentage of children who are overweight has doubled in the last 20 years! But don’t blame the kids. Keith Ayoob, an associate Professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine says, “I never see a child who has better eating habits than his parents. ”Children eat the foods that are served to them or what is easily available at school ....

By Master Christopher Rappold When your child shows up for that first martial arts class, you become a “sports parent”. Most of us relish our time as parents and strive to make the most of this wonderful adventure. However, there are those who give sports and parents a bad name. So what can you do to avoid becoming sidelined monster? Follow some basic common sense rules. 1. Start the day right. Yes, have a good healthy breakfast and carry healthy snacks and drinks, but more importantly, start the day in the proper frame of mind. Keep it light and positive on the drive to the event. When you arrive, you may quickly go over anything that needs to be gone over, but remembers ....

By Master Christopher Rappold A boy and his father were walking in the mountains when suddenly the son fell, hurt himself and screamed, “Aaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”? ?To his surprise, he heard a voice repeat from somewhere in the mountain, “Aaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”?? Curious, he yells, “Who are you?”? ?The voice answers, “Who are you?”? ?He then screams to the mountain, “I admire you!”?? The voice answers, “I admire you!”? ?Angered at the response, he shouts, “Coward!”?? The voice replies back, “Coward!”? ?He looks to his father and asks, “What's going on?” The father smiles and says, ....

Reprinted from Wingsforthehearts.com With the rushed busyness of our hectic lifestyle, we often underestimate the power of relaxation. Most of us have a massive to-do list each day, and we feel we can't afford to slow our pace or we'll quickly fall behind. However, we fail to acknowledge the ways that relaxation can increase our stamina, clear our thoughts, and allow us to get much more accomplished with less effort. The other day, I put this theory to the test, and decided to spend an afternoon and evening doing the unthinkable: nothing. I was feeling stressed and run down by a crazy schedule, and even though I had a ton of stuff that needed to be done, I decided to just stop, put ....

By Master Christopher Rappold The ultimate leverage for a healthy life: invest $4 and get back $96. How good does that sound to you? Do the math; it is a 24,000% return!! Imagine going to Las Vegas with those odds in your favor, I don’t think they would have the money left to build anymore big resorts. What about investing money in the stock market? You invest $4 and you get back $96, again a 24,000% return! Won’t be too long before you are purchasing a second home and an island to put it on. When we think in terms of examples like these, it is clear to see the power of the investment. But invest 4% of our day (ONE hour) to give yourself the other 96% (23 hours) of ....

By Master Christopher Rappold When I conduct self-defense seminars, I frequently am asked questions about being alone in a dark parking lot. The simple answer always follows… DON’T BE! With so many more options for parking, always choose lit spots over dark allies and whenever possible to be sure to park in populated areas. Bright lights and lots of people will take care of 95 percent of it and allow you to feel safe. While we have a choice in most cases of where to park, we often don’t have the choice of not having our children with us. And while I will tell you that the stats on child abduction are somewhere as likely as getting hit by lightening, it does happen. So ....

By Master Christopher Rappold One of my mentors tells a story of a boy coming home from school, walking into his house and greeting his dad with, “Dad, I flunked my math test today.” The dad, trying to teach his son to look on the bright side of things, said, “Son, that’s negative, you need to be more positive.” The son replied, “Dad, I’m positive I flunked my math test.” How many people truly are able to naturally look at things in a positive way? I’m not sure, but my guess is for the vast majority it takes a bit of focus and self-discipline. Why bother? Think how much better you would be at everything you do, if you trained ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Learning to lose is arguably more important than learning to win. Think about it: if Thomas Edison didn’t have the growth mindset and didn’t look at each attempt to invent the light bulb as one step closer to success we may not have enjoyed the invention of the incandescent light bulb in 1879. So what are some things we can learn from this as adults and what are the lessons to pass onto our children? Feedback not Failure Well, first, depending on whom you listen to, Edison tried between 3,000 – 10,000 times before his invention had the outcome desired. I don’t know about you, but I have given up more times than I care to admit ....

I stumbled upon this article and felt it said perfectly how the ways of the world are right now. We should always be mindful of this. Enjoy, Master Rappold How can we expect our kids to be perfect all of the time when we're not perfect ourselves? byRebecca Eanes Originally printed in Boston Parent’s Paper Magazine I once said in a book, “So often, children are punished for being human. They are not allowed to have grumpy moods, bad days, disrespectful tones or bad attitudes. Yet, we adults have them all the time. None of us are perfect. We must stop holding our children to a higher standard of perfection than we can attain ourselves.” This quote has gone viral, ....

An excerpt from the book “Be Your Personal Best: Fitness” By Master Christopher Rappold I am sure you have heard about the story of the grandmother lifting an end of a car up to free her trapped grandchild underneath it. How about the story of Marcus Luttrell, the Navy Seal who was shot several times, fell down a rocky cliff breaking his leg and his back, yet summoned the strength to crawl inch by inch seven miles to escape being captured? How is it that people are able to do these feats of what seems like impossibility? I believe the reason is that their “why” is so strong that nothing will get in the way. For the grandmother, her “why” was ....

By Master Christopher Rappold What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? If you are like me, the answer may be “More than I am doing right now”. Why is this? As I reflect on it, I think it partly comes from two pains; first, the pain we associate to trying new things; and second, the pain of carrying the memories of falling short and feeling like we lost. Whether it was criticism from another or something else, the not doing is more pleasurable than the potential gain from stepping out of your comfort zone. Keith Rollag, Babson University professor and author of the book, What to do When You’re New: How To Be Comfortable Confident and Successful In New ....

from Parents Magazine When you’re faced with a daunting organizing task, tryThe Pomodoro Technique, a simple productivity system that helps you break a project into focused blocks of time (25 minutes) followed by a five-minute break to recharge. It’s helpful for tackling dreaded projects such as piles of unfiled paperwork. It’s great toget kids involved in the process of purging. My trick is to ask them, “What feels babyish?” Kids love the idea of being a big boy or a big girl, which allows them to let go. Tip:Remember: There is no magic container.Getting organized is about reducing the clutter to begin with. Ifchildren assist you when you set up an ....

Over the next few weeks we will share 23 game-changing tips from real-mom professional organizers from Parents Magazine. Four professional organizer moms share their secrets for controlling clutter and managing the unique breed of mess that families make. Stephanie Christopoulos A mom of an 8-year-old daughter, living in Atlanta. In addition to residential projects, she specializes in relocation services and home-office organization—and does it all with a slow-and-steady approach. 1. Suffering from kitchen-gadget overload? Use drawer dividers to give your tools a designated home. 2. Binder clip s are great multitaskers. I use them to tie cords together, to organize my ....

Be strong enough to let go and wise enough to hold on. Where you start is not nearly as important as where you finish. You never know how strong you are until being strong is all you got. If plan “A” doesn’t work have no fear; there are 25 more letters in the alphabet. Stay strong, make them wonder how you are still smiling. Don’t try to understand everything. Sometimes it is not meant to be understood, just accepted. If it didn’t add to you life in 2016, then it has no place in 2017. Starting strong is good. Finishing strong is epic. You can. End of story. In the end it’s not the years that count. It’s the ....

By Master Christopher Rappold When we speak of SELF-defense it shouldn’t start with protecting against another person, it truly should start with what we do to keep ourselves healthy. Let’s face it, because of privilege of where we live, we are more than likely to have to protect ourselves more frequently from the cold and flu than from physical attack. With this being said, here are five tips to keep you and your family healthy when the doors close and windows stay shut till late March: 1. Drink lots of water: 75% of our body and 80% of our brain is made of water. To keep germs from collecting in our body keep your fluids moving in and out of you. A great rule of thumb ....

By Master Christopher Rappold It’s that time of year again. A time when we start to reflect on all of the things we have to be grateful for. Though we know we should count our blessing every day, the truth is it can be easy to get caught up in “the busy” and forget to bring this feeling of gratitude into our daily life. Thanksgiving for me is one of many placeholders in my calendar year when I am reminded to not just feel gratitude but to express it to those within my circle and also to those not directly connected with me. Reaching out to people who are not in any way connected to you is a really cool experience if you give it a try. The best experience is to do ....

By Master Christopher Rappold How many sayings do you recall from your childhood that your parents used to quote? As I think about the ones that most resonate with me are the ones I find repeating to my own daughters (something I swore I would never do… oh well!) Continuing to reinforce basic principles of living is important as it helps to crystalize thinking around a particular situation. For example, my mom used to say, “I cried when I didn’t have shoes, until I saw a man that had no feet.” To this day it reminds me to keep perspective regarding my wants in life. What also has been tremendously valuable to me is the example that was set. Many times I ....

By Master Christopher Rappold I can’t blame a child or even an adult for enjoying the taste of juice. It is flavorfully sweet and quenches your thirst. The challenge though is at what cost? With a rise in childhood obesity it seems we need to be as mindful about sugar intake as we are about our child’s hydration. This can be hard for some of us to swallow, pardon the pun. Many of us grew up in a house that had juice as a part of a “nutritious” breakfast. Some of us always had a carton of juice in the refrigerator if we needed our thirst quenched; therefore our appetite for juice has been woven into our nutritional history. Ultimately like all decisions ....

By Master Christopher Rappold With the start of a new school year it seems likely that your child could be at the same risk of being bullied as any other child at their school. As parents, this can make us feel vulnerable since they are away from our immediate protection. I’m happy to share, there is a very real strategy that can be used to minimize the likelihood your child will be targeted. Having the experience of working in over 30 public and private schools over the past 10 years I have definitely seen patterns that tend to make certain children immune to being targeted. One of the most important attributes I have shared and witnessed is the mindset of being a ....

By Master Christopher Rappold I remember thinking, “I can’t wait till I don’t have to do homework ever again!” unfortunately I am still waiting! Let’s face: it whether homework or life activities - it is all the same. We have things to do that have daily deadlines on them and they need to be done well in a timely manner. As parents, one of our responsibilities is to help to create a framework that works successfully for our children. If you are not sure, you can start by basing it on last year’s time frame and then increase it by 15 -30 minutes. Teachers should be able to help by advising the estimated amount of time needed each day. Sit down with ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Recently I attended an event where I was an invited speaker. It was not my first time attending, and I was thinking back to last year’s event which was not my favorite. I remember the feeling of being stared down, judged and just enduring the cold culture it presented to me. Knowing I would be attending again, didn’t give me a lot to look forward to. Prior to the event starting I made a decision. I was going to actively be the first one to initiate contact, compliments and conversation with any of the people I came across. I was amazed at how nice everyone was. Many of the same people, but it seemed they had grown so much. Actually, they ....

Back to school Butterflies that feel like Dragons By Master Christopher Rappold Can you think back to the time when you were starting a new school year? For someof us it is a far off distant memory. It can be so easy as a parent to simply fall intothe thinking of, “don’t worry, be happy” or “what’s the big deal”. Imagine though, fora moment, how you would be feeling on your first day starting a new job. In adultterms that is probably closest to the potential of how your child feels going to schoolon their first few days. Knowing this, I wanted to offer some helpful tips shared with me over the year bysome amazing Personal Best Parents. 1. ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Though you may find yourself still basking in the sun of the summer, we all know that right around the corner is back to school. As with any transition, it can be challenging if not approached correctly. With this in mind, here are three tips to help get you ready for the school year to come. Tip #1 Get your Children’s Sleep Back on Track To make this as painless as possible, I would recommend starting this gradually, about two weeks from the start of school. Pull the time to bed back maybe as little as 30 minutes per day to get them accustomed to going to bed earlier. At the same time, start to have a wake up time so they are breaking ....

By Master Christopher Rappold #1 Where are you now? Understanding where you are now is important in measuring forward progress. Some common measurements are waist size, weight, body composition cardio or strength maximums. Pick a couple of the measurements that make the most sense to you and check in with yourself every week. By simply keeping your eye on those numbers that matter to you, you are more likely to make positive progress. #2 Front load your calories It’s not just what you eat, it’s also when you eat it. Two people can eat the same diet but if one front loads their calorie consumption to the earlier part of the day, they will have a better result than those who eat late ....

By Master Christopher Rappold As with many parents, the feeling of summer and the children being out of school brings dreams of carefree unscheduled relaxation. Days filled with sun, fun, contentment and laughter. And while the season does usher in opportunities like this, being a parent for the past 16 years I can tell you it also can create, “I’m bored”, “There is nothing to do”, as well as a general slip in the positive lifestyle habits and routines that the school year helped to build. Gone unnoticed, a summer can turn into a slide into a bottomless hole of Netflix and TV watching. With this in mind, I wanted to share some advanced thinking so that you can be a step ahead in the ....

By Master Christopher Rappold If your children are like mine they jump right out of bed in the morning, eager and motivated to tackle the day! Well… not quite the reality? No worries, neither are mine. ? Knowing that lack of sleep is associated with behavior issues such as Attention Deficit Disorder, mood swings and hyperactivity, plus poor academic grades, poor eating habits and obesity, I was motivated to crack the code on this. With a desire to find out if in fact my children were getting enough sleep, I started to do some research to determine how I could gauge what is an adequate amount of sleep and how would I as a parent know if my children are getting the rest they need to ....

By Master Christopher Rappold As a parent, it seems that we are faced with a never-ending surge of requests by our children. Everything from “Can I have…” to “Can you drive me…” and “Can you buy me…”. And just when you think they are tired or get the hint it is not working, all they were doing was catching their breath for the next round of requests. With all these requests it seems there has to be a better strategy than simply and repeatedly saying, “NO”. I found a few simple strategies to alleviate you from sounding like a broken record and at the same time provide you the opportunity create teachable moments for your child. Amy McCready, the founder of ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Even with a good night's slumber, parents can agree that mornings during the school year can be pretty chaotic. Still, a little pre-planning can help make the early mornings go more smoothly. In my home, it seems the more things that are done the night before the better for everyone. Nothing creates instant pressure like last minute frantic searches for something that could have been taken care of the night before. The following is a list of some cool strategies that can be done to ensure the best possible start to the day. 1. Pad the morning schedule by 15 minutes. Having extra time allows communication to be relaxed and calm. 2. Have the bags packed ....

By Master Christopher Rappold “Watch what you put into your body” or “You are what you eat” are popular sayings everyone has heard. The challenge is that most of the undesirable ingredients that will pull you off track from your fitness goals cannot be seen. Everyone has also heard that you are supposed to read labels; most though, are unaware of what the numbers mean. Here is a simple rule of thumb you can use immediately to ensure you are only putting into your body what will give you the short term physicality and long term health you desire: Commit to choosing labeled foods that contain 15 grams of sugar or less, 200mg or less of salt and foods that have less than 25% of calories ....

By Master Christopher Rappold To ingrain a new habit it is said to take 21 days of consistent repetition for it to become a part of you. For this month’s challenge we are going to round the number up to 31. For the next 31 days you are going to commit to training every day for a minimum of 15 minutes without missing. This means Saturdays and Sundays as well. Now, some people have been programmed to think this is not good. Nothing could be further from the truth. Daily exercise is a great thing for your body provided that you vary your routines and alternate what you practice and what muscle groups are worked. In fact, I believe that by not training every day you put yourself at far ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Here are the next five tips to bring gratitude into your child’s life without them knowing. Check the blog before to see the first five tips and you will end up with a grateful child. 6. The difference between rights and privileges - As adults I think we get the difference much easier than children do. A little education in this area can go a long way. It is right to have clothing to keep your body warm; it is a privilege to have designer outfits. It is a right to be able to communicate; it is a privilege to have the latest smart phone. It is a right as a citizen of this country to have an education; it is a privilege to be able to participate in ....

By Master Christopher Rappold During the month of November we are all reminded through the holiday of Thanksgiving about the importance of being grateful. We know it is important but you continually feel like your children just don’t get it. Here are the first five tips that you can integrate in to bring more gratitude into your home without your children ever even knowing. Speak often about being grateful – Nothing will beat a consistent message played over and over again. Have you ever caught yourself repeating a saying your parents used to say? I think we all have. When children continually hear you give your reasons for why you feel grateful it’s no surprise over time they will ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Bullying takes many forms. It can be a threat, making fun of someone or not including someone in activities. It can be mean spirited or just distant and cold. It can be one-on-one or it can spread to situations where a group of students are all focusing negative energy on one lone sole. Whatever the exact description, it is all considered bullying. Typically, when someone envisions bullying, what immediately comes to mind is the scene of a timid boy being pushed on the playground. While that definitely qualifies as bullying, physical confrontation makes up a very small amount of the instances. Statistics indicate that 97% of the time bullying ....

By Master Christopher Rappold An important realization for parents to make is that physical bullying accounts for less than 3 percent of the bullying that occurs in schools. The other 97 percent is psychological. It’s vital that parents take the time to clearly define bullying to their children as being anything that is DONE REPETITIVELY and WITH INTENTION that makes children feel scared, pressured or down on themselves. What at times may seem innocent or “typical kid” behaviors that we as parents grew up with are actually the small seeds of where bullying and harassment occurs. Name calling, teasing, intentionally excluding a child from a group, physically displaying your disapproval ....

By Master Christopher Rappold I hope the school year is off to a great start for you and your children. No matter how good it is going, it is likely there will come a point when you are going to need to coach your child through a tough decision. As many parents know, children and teens often times use the word “tattling” or “snitching to describe anyone telling an authority figure about any type of situation that occurred. Many times, instead of going to an adult, they simply keep what has happened a secret because they fear being made fun of or looked down on. The challenge is, without an interruption in the pattern of the bullying and the intervention from someone in a position of ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Encouragement is a wonderful thing. Hey, we all need a little from time to time. Especially when you are hitting a challenge or feeling like the world is temporality stacked against you. The little pat on the back you need may be the spark that can get you firing again on all cylinders. But can encouragement be taken to an extreme and be done to the detriment of your child’s growth and desire to excel. According to Stanford University Law Professor Carol Dweck, Ph.D., the answer is yes. She says, “Doling out generic praise based on superficial attributes such as intelligence, athletic ability and good looks can establish a fixed mindset in ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Being a person who has devoted my adult life to bringing out the best in others, I was immediately drawn to an article on “Scientific Tips” for raising happy kids. And while everyone has theories, I want to tip my hat and give full attention to people who invest the time to prove their theories with science. The following list of 10 tips was gathered by Stephanie Pappas, A LiveScience.com contributor. Take a look and see if any of the ten may help your understanding or reinforce your approach with your children. #1. LOL! Joking Helps Lighten up! Joking with your toddler helps set them up for social success, according to research ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Can you believe it? We are already talking about the school year? Didn’t we just start summer? Well, like every year, the time comes faster than expected, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. As all the retail stores start running their enticing back to school commercials, as parents we should be planning our children’s smooth return back to school. Smooth for them and, yes,… smooth for us. So what are those three things we should do with a month to go that will make this transition the best it can be? Number #1: Start to slowly bring down their bedtime to match what it would be during the school year. Doing this slowly is important so they almost ....

By Master Christopher Rappold As parents we want the best for our children: do well in school, keep healthy plus have a strong social network of good friends. We also want our children be “tough”. In times past, that meant that young boys needed the courage and skill to fight the bully behind the building after school. Like with almost everything, the definition of what “tough” means is more complex. Tough now means that we want our children to be able to be tough enough to not follow the crowd, tough enough to hear the criticism and not lash back in anger, tough enough to stand tall against someone who is being picked on and be tough enough to be above having ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Peer pressure can be tough to deal with. But it will help you to remember that you do have choices. Here are some of the situations in which you may encounter peer pressure. 1. Everyone else likes a certain kind of music that you don’t care for. 2. An unpopular person asks to spend time with you and you really want to but you know all the other kids will make fun of you. 3. Your friends are smoking, drinking, or using drugs and tell you they won’t be your friend anymore if you don’t do the same. 4. Someone tries to cheat at school by copying your paper or homework and tells you you’re not really a friend if you don’t ....

“I want my child to have self-discipline but I don’t want them to do anything they don’t want to do.” By Master Christopher Rappold As a parent, I would be the first to admit we have to choose our battles at times. With everything from what to eat, what to wear, how to act, to scheduling everything from homework to bedtime and the fact that unlike a 9 – 5 job, as a parent you never get to punch out. It is understandable why parenting has been called the toughest job in the world. All this being said, it is sad when I have a conversation with a parent who says, “I want my child to have self-discipline but I don’t want them to do anything they ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Have you ever been in a place where you are in a room full of people and you don’t know anyone? Remember how that feels? What’s the quickest way to go from a feeling awkward to empowered? The quickest way I have found is to introduce yourself to someone. I remember being in a local gym working out. A few minutes after I started, a big, strong bodybuilder- type man came in and was lifting heavy weights near me. He had a very stern look on his face as if he was coming from or about to get into a fight. Though he was not offensive at all to me, his presence created a vibe in the area that caused other people to conveniently move to other workout stations. ....

Blanca and Brendan O'Reilly After we relocated to Easton from Canada a year and half ago, we started searching for a karate school for our two oldest sons to continue their studies. We were looking for a school that would respect their previous belts but more importantly one that aligned with our core values and emphasized not only self-defense, but also respect, discipline and integrity. We visited three schools, tried two and decided on enrolling them in Personal Best Karate in Easton. Mr. and Mrs. Rappold went out of their way to ensure that our sons (and ourselves) felt welcomed and gave them significant personal attention to help them quickly learn their new forms and self-defense ....

By Master Christopher Rappold A college professor of mine drew on the chalk board two arrows side by side, one pointed up, the other next to it pointing down. He asked our class, “What does this mean?” Not knowing where he was going with his questions, we all began to spout out the most obvious answers such as, “what goes up must come down”. He patiently listened to us and then said, “Each arrow represents emotion. When your emotion goes up, your ability to think and reason clearly goes down.” While some of the class was probably less than impressed, I was impacted by the simple yet profound lesson. I thought back to times as a competitor when I would get too caught up in the emotion ....

By Master Christopher Rappold While I know there are many ways to raise a child, I strongly believe an important element to impart on your child is the ability to “look for the good in all people and in all situations.” Think about it for a moment - what can be more important to share with your child than the healthy perspective of looking for the good? When one has the ability to see the silver lining in a cloud, it magically enables the person to dodge that feeling of helplessness that comes from feeling overwhelmed. It keeps the thinking in line and provides a balanced perspective. It reduces the likelihood of extremist type thinking where it is all or nothing. It provides a ....

Could Life Really Be That Simple? By Master Christopher Rappold The Four Agreements is a book written by 62-year-old author Don Miguel Ruiz who focuses on the Ancient Toltec teachings to achieve happiness. In his easy-read book he goes in depth to what he has come to believe is the way to have greater peace and happiness in your life. The Four Agreements are: 1. Be impeccable with your words 2. Don't take anything personally 3. Don't make assumptions 4. Always do your best Sounds kind of simple right? Well, stop and think about how much energy would be saved and how your relationships would improve if you committed to only speak with total integrity and love as the center piece ....

The key to ending procrastination isn’t to “just do it” - or to get yourself “psyched up. In fact, the answer is something that most people would never even guess. If you’d like to cure your procrastination, and get more of the important things DONE in your life, then watch this new video from Eben Pagan (just opt-in to watch it free): How To Cure Procrastination Inside, you’ll learn: > How to cure and overcome procrastination for the LONG-TERM > How to create a habit of taking action, so you have less and less procrastination in your life automatically > The place to invest your attention and energy to get the HIGHEST return (in ....

By Master Christopher Rappold In a culture that continuously floods messages of immediate gratification and quick, effortless solutions, it is easy to forget that challenge and resistance is a natural part of a healthy life. Stress can often increase when we expect things should be easy and then we hit the inevitable road bump. Like Thomas Edison attempting 10,000 times to invent the light bulb, we need to remember that every failure, every rejection, every refusal allows you an opportunity to refine your approach and move forward. Delays are not denials as long as you recognize their value and learn from the feedback. As parents, it is perfectly natural to want to protect our children ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Most people have heard the expression “The Attitude of Gratitude,” but beyond knowing the saying how do you ensure it is a part of your consciousness? I see gratitude as a key ingredient to being and feeling our best and it doesn’t have to just be once a year during Thanksgiving. In fact, practicing the daily dose of gratitude may be the best antidote for dealing with the struggles and pressures that face us all. Thanksgiving merely provides a scheduled opportunity to help refocus our perspective rejuvenate our desire to get in touch with this perhaps the very best version of ourselves. I know for myself that when I come from a place of being ....

By Master Rappold When someone with a chronic headache goes to see a medical doctor, chances are high that the medical doctor is going to prescribe a drug that has a great chance of alleviating the pain. Problem solved….right? It may be, but it’s not hard to figure out why this approach is so popular; in the mind of the patient with the reduction of the headache, the patient feels relief and often thinks that he is cured. When a patient goes to see a doctor of Chinese medicine, the doctor will provide a thorough examination, not to alleviate the pain, but rather to see what is causing the pain. When the “root’ cause is discovered, the Chinese doctor then attempts ....

By Master Rappold When your thinking and actions are aligned correctly, you live a more friction-free life. Distractions, irritations and interruptions become less and your mind and your spirit feel limitless. Thoughts leads to actions, actions lead to habits and habits, done over time, lead to the person you are destined to become. Taking conscious control of your thoughts and focus puts you in the driver’s seat of manifesting you desired results. To bring more immediate conscious power in your life I am going to suggest changing one thought and encouraging one specific action. First, the thought - For the remainder of 2014 commit to talking only about things you can control. ....

How many stories have you heard in the recent past about young people who have fallen victim to bullying? One story is one too many. Unfortunately, many of the stories end with the tragic loss of life as a direct result. According to the website, Stopbullying.gov , bullying is defined as “intentionally aggressive, usually repeated” verbal, social, or physical behavior aimed at a specific person or group of people. Bullying happens in any setting and affects all age groups from school-aged children to adults. While bullying occurs in the work place, the most common settings are schools, school buses, playgrounds and with more frequency, cyber bullying. Nationally the ....

Parent vs. Friend – Let’s make it simple and be both! By Master Christopher Rappold Life is about balance. To appreciate hard we need soft, to know lightness we need darkness. The ebb and flow of opposites is part of what creates the reality we appreciate. Children need someone to encourage greatness, especially the greatness of habits that will make them stronger in the future. Every time you ask your child to do something they would not willingly do on their own -- like eating vegetables, doing homework, taking out the trash or reminding them about using manners -- you are fulfilling the role of parent. Well done… pat yourself on the back, without YOU how would they ....

7 Steps to a Great School Year By Master Christopher Rappold 1. Establish Rules for success Decide in advance what the bed time, TV time, phone time and all other boundaries will be to ensure there is no confusion or distraction when school starts. 2. Prepare homework space Nothing is better than to sit down to an area that is well laid out with everything your child will need without distractions 3. Make sure to schedule free time In the quest for academic greatness remember, all work and no play is a recipe for disaster. Ensure that your child has ample time to play and recharge. 4. Make early and frequent contact with teachers Nothing could be more important to a smooth ....

By Master Christopher Rappold: Did you know the American child spends an average of 44.5 hours per week in front of some form of media? Did you also know they see an average of 40,000 commercials annually and that by the time they are in middle school they have seen 8,000 murders and over 100,000 acts of violence on TV alone? All this adds up to a mountain of input that studies have shown is not positively contributing to their social emotional and physical well being. So what is a parent to do? The first step is to fully embrace the fact that TV, the internet and cell phones may have as much or more influence over their behavior as their peers do and that all of those exposures are ....

Everyone loves the summer! A time when the schedule is a bit more relaxed and everyone can more easily enjoy recreational activities. Keeping your child from being a couch potato in the summer is important, but equally important is giving them the right kind of mental and physical stimulation. While traditionally no one likes summer school, martial arts at Personal Best can be a very rewarding activity. Students have a more flexible schedule which allows each student to easily make progress at the same rate they do year round while still having plenty of time for the sun. It also provides a level of structure and reinforcement of vital self-defense skills to balance off the mounds of ....

By Master Christopher Rappold Every May at Personal Best we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. It provides students an opportunity in a very special public demonstration to show how much their teacher is appreciated. Going hand in hand with that here are a few other ideas you can use to show your child’s teacher how much they are valued. Write it down in a Note. An email or even better an hand written note is a great way for you to collect your thoughts and recognize the work that has been done all years to help your child improve. It’s unfortunate but true that often teachers only hear the complaints. How refreshing it feels when you read a note of sincere ....

Do something the first time you are asked. How often does mom have to waste time and energy asking you to do the same thing over and over. Give the gift of more energy by doing the task immediately. Make her a memento of the incredible times you’ve spent together. Nothing makes mom feel more special than when you take the time to show you value the time you have spent together. Collect pictures and create a collage, a scrapbook or a Powerpoint presentation that shows highlights of time spent together. Make her lunch or dinner. How many meals has mom made you? Turn the table and give mom the royal treatment by preparing a nice meal for her. Keep the meal ....

Here’s Five Lessons they can learn from it : As a curious parent, I am always listening to different strategies to instill the very best in my children. I have had the good fortune of enjoying a front row seat to some amazing parenting strategies. One topic that has often come up is about paying your children an allowance. I was raised in a home where you were responsible for chores but there was no allowance. At first, the idea of giving an allowance seemed like a mismatch; after all, we are already providing so much for our children, why would we pay them just for helping out? Shouldn’t that be required? The view I was taking is ....

How do I know if my child is attracting bullying? By Master Christopher Rappold It can be embarrassing and awkward to find out, but sometimes we can all be the source of what is bringing on our problems. To figure out whether this applies to you, communication is the key: communication with your child, communication with the teacher and communication with the other parents. It’s important that you keep informed. Ask your child questions beyond, “How was school?” Probe to see how they speak to others and how they react to situations. When they share something that happened in their day, follow up with specific questions that will reveal their behaviors and ....

Having a front row seat to some phenomenal parents over the past 20 years at Personal Best Karate has reinforced a lot to me. One of the most valuable items has been the concept of the routine. Students of all ages who grow and progress in our program often do so because they have made their martial arts training a way of life. They schedule the time to train on a regular basis, and although they have a choice to come any of six days a week, most adhere to their predetermined schedule. If their routine is Monday and Wednesday for their classroom training they stick to it. Because of this there is no energy wasted in thinking, “when will I train this week”, they “set it ....

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” - Nelson Mandela With the passing of Nelson Mandela recently, it seems appropriate to highlight some of his philosophies. And while we will most likely never be called on to free a nation, his quote above can have impact for each of us in our daily lives. How many of us take the time to think through the language that will most easily be understood by the people we are communicating with? Most of the time conflict seems to stem more from a perception someone has of the way we speak rather than the content of what we say. Taking time to show this ....

It’s sad, but true; many people are already losing their way on their New Year’s resolutions. With increasing emails, texts, Facebook, phone calls, day to day life, demands and the occasional crisis… are you surprised? I think the only shot we all have of reaching meaningful long term goals is to take control of the noise. One of my commitments this year is to get distracted less. I want to focus my time in a way that allows me to get the most from each and every day. I will give little or no time to things that don’t benefit the advancement of a worthy goal or provide the recharge I need to consistently be the best version of me. Three questions to ask – ....

10 Days Can Change Your Life…. Will You Take the Challenge? One of the things that I miss about college is the feeling of accomplishment and sense of completion you got from finishing a semester. After finals, the classes I was taking were over, never to be revisited again. The next semester would start fresh with new classes, new schedules, a fresh outlook and a renewed commitment to do my best. As the calendar turned to the new year, I got the same feeling of completion, renewal and commitment to be the best possible version of myself. To make any meaningful and last differences requires the commitment to a refined way of thinking. One of the modern day masters of influence and ....

A center piece of the Personal Best philosophy has always been our Student Creed. As the New Year begins and you have had a chance to rethink and refocus, here are a few commitments that may help. They are ACTIONS STEPS, inspired by the four sentences that start every class. In fact, they are taken literally off the walls of Personal Best. Sometimes the answers we are looking for are right in front of us. Student Creed #1

I will develop myself in a positive manner and avoid anything that would reduce my mental growth and my physical health. Make a commitment to do at least one thing each day to develop yourself in to be better than you were yesterday. Commit this year to clean yourself ....

As a boy, I think what drew me to Martial Arts was the demeanor Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee had in their movies. Both characters had their share of adversity both physically and mentally, but I always watched in awe at how calm they were under the most stressful of circumstances. They found their focus, did what they needed to do and then went back to their normal happy life. Are you happy? Does the answer depend on when you are reading this? Are you a person that exudes happiness all the time? I think you may agree with me there are certainly moments in life where happiness permeates everything around us. Many have experienced flow states where everything just seems to fall in place and ....

Ways to Practice the Art of Being Thankful Most people have heard the expression “The Attitude of Gratitude,” but beyond knowing the saying, how do you ensure it is a part of your consciousness? I see gratitude as a key ingredient to being and feeling our best and it doesn’t have to just be once a year during Thanksgiving. In fact, practicing the daily dose of gratitude may be the best antidote for dealing with the struggles and pressures that face us all. Thanksgiving merely provides a scheduled opportunity to help refocus our perspective rejuvenate our desire to get in touch with this perhaps the very best version of ourselves. For myself, I know that when I come from a ....

Have you ever had the experience of listening to a parent talk about their child’s attitude regarding an activity like dance, gymnastics, baseball, theater, karate, etc. and hear them say something like, "Jimmy loves his classes once he's at them. After class he's talking about how great it was and he always leaves with big smile on his face. But sometimes, I have a hard time getting him to his classes. Jimmy's watching TV or a friend asks him to play or he's in the middle of a game and he gives me a hassle about going to the activity. Has this ever happened to you?” Child psychologists call this being "Present Oriented" and it's typical in young children, but certainly ....

How Can I Teach My Child Gratitude? If you value raising children with a heart filled with gratitude, as I am sure you do, how do you ensure you hit your mark? One answer may be through the utilization of “experiential learning”. What do I mean? Observation has shown that frustration often sets in with parents when their children make an insensitive or selfish comment. Parents think, “If only my child knew how lucky they are!” Well, for better or worse, all a child knows is their OWN experience. As it is for adults, it is difficult to see tragedy in other parts of the world and bring the grateful experience back into your everyday consciousness. After all, it took ....

What is the Difference Between Tattling/Snitching and Reporting? We are about one month into the 2013 school year. How is it going so far? I hope it is off to a good start. Regardless of a good or bad start or what school your child attends, there will likely come a point when you are going to need to coach your child through a tough decision. As many parents know, children and teens often times use the word “tattling” or “snitching to describe anyone telling an authority figure about any type of situation that occurred. Since they fear being made fun of or looked down on, instead of going to an adult they simply keep what has happened a secret. The challenge is, without ....

Medfield If you would like to have your child try our award-winning character based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page to sign up today. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home. ....

Click here to See our Facebook. If you would like to have your child try our award-winning character based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page to sign up today. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home. ....

7 Steps to Raising Your Child’s Self Esteem 1. Keep a Victory List: Refrigerators were made for this! Keep reminding your child of all the things, both large and small, they should be proud of. Many times children (and adults) do not give themselves full credit for their achievements. A parent I know took the idea of a victory list and not only kept the refrigerator full, but also took the time to make a scrapbook of the improvements a child made each year. Yearly, the parent also wrote a two-page paper summarizing all of the positive changes and challenges the child overcame. On the child’s eighteenth birthday she will receive the scrapbook full of accomplishments from each ....

As a facilitator of Anti Bully education in 29 public and private schools covering grades Pre –K through 12th grade, I am frequently asked about gossip. It seems that it is everywhere and in all walks of life. The examples change based on age, but it always comes back to speaking of others not present in an unflattering way. One of the stories I have shared many times over the years to help others understand the destructive power of rumors and gossip is the following. Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you hear or find yourself ready to repeat a something told to you. In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great ....

Click Here To Visit Our Members Site! If you would like to have your child try our award-winning character based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page to sign up today. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home. ....

How you protect your child from bullying By Master Christopher Rappold Simple Tip #1 Rehearse what to do What do the statistics say? Research shows that those who bully and are bullied appear to be at a greater risk for experiencing loneliness, trouble making friends, lack of success in school and involvement in problem behaviors, such as smoking and drinking. Bullying generally begins in elementary grades, peaks in the sixth through eighth grade and persists into high school Children and youth who are bullied are typically anxious, insecure, cautious and suffer from low self esteem and rarely defend themselves. Like most things in life it’s what you do in advance that ....